Helius (Helius) damingshanus Xu, Zhang & Zhang, 2023

Xu, Yuanyuan, Zhang, Shenglin, Wang, Guoquan, Yang, Ding & Zhang, Xiao, 2023, First records of the crane fly genus Helius Lepeletier & Serville (Diptera, Limoniidae) in Guangxi, China with description of one new species, ZooKeys 1168, pp. 131-149 : 131

Helius (Helius) damingshanus Xu, Zhang & Zhang sp. nov.

Figs 2 , 3

Type material.

Holotype: China • ♂; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Wuming County, Mount Damingshan; 11 May 2014; Xiumei Lu leg.; CAU. Paratypes: China • 2 ♂, 1 ♀; same data as holotype; CAU.

Diagnosis.

Antenna with basal flagellomeres oval. Rostrum about equal in length to remainder of head. Prescutum and presutural scutum pale brown with a narrow darker median line. Femora of legs pale brown with base paler. Wing with oval brown stigma; Sc ending shortly before fork of Rs; m-cu beyond fork of M. Outer gonostylus slightly curved, inner spine flat apically. Interbase nearly globular, laterally with narrow, apically dilated outgrowth. Distal 2/3 of aedeagus arched dorsally.

Description.

Male (Fig. 2a ). Body length 5.6-6.0 mm (excluding rostrum), wing length 6.5-6.9 mm, rostrum length 0.5-0.6 mm, antenna length 1.1-1.2 mm.

Head (Fig. 2b ). Dark brown. Setae on head brownish black. Antenna brown. Scape long cylindrical, 2.5 times as long as wide; pedicel oval; basal flagellomeres oval, with short brownish black verticils, outer flagellomeres tapering apically and elongated, with long brownish black verticils that exceed length of corresponding flagellomere. Rostrum about equal in length to remainder of head, brown with brownish black setae. Palpus brown with brownish black setae.

Thorax (Fig. 2c ). Pronotum brown. Prescutum and presutural scutum pale brown with a narrow darker median line. Postsutural scutum pale brown, each lobe with a white spot. Scutellum brown, paler medially. Mediotergite pale brown. Pleuron (Fig. 2a ) brownish yellow with anepisternum darker. Setae on thorax brownish black. Fore and mid coxae brownish yellow, hind coxa pale yellow; trochanters pale brownish yellow, tips narrowly black; femora pale brown with base paler; tibiae and tarsi pale brown. Setae on legs brownish black. Wing (Fig. 2d ) tinged with pale brown. Stigma oval and brown. Veins brown. Venation: Sc long, ending slightly before fork of Rs; sc-r close to tip of Sc; distance between tips of R4 and R5 about 3 times as long as distance between tips of R1 and R4; cell dm short, about 1.5 times as long as wide; m-cu variable in position, from fork of M to 1/4 of cell dm. Halter brown with knob brownish yellow.

Abdomen (Fig. 2a ). First abdominal segment short, brownish yellow, segments 2-5 yellow, segment 6 brownish yellow, segments 7-9 brown. Setae on abdomen brownish black.

Hypopygium (Fig. 3 ). Brown. Posterior margin of tergite 9 with a broad U-shaped emargination (Fig. 3a ). Gonocoxite nearly cylindrical, base narrowed, inner margin distinctly swollen, produced into rounded protrusion, outer side with long brown setae (Fig. 3a, b ). Outer gonostylus (= clasper of gonostylus in Ribeiro 2006) slightly curved, distal half blackened; tip weakly bispinous, inner spine flat apically (Fig. 3a, b, e ). Inner gonostylus (= lobe of gonostylus in Ribeiro 2006) arched, broad at base, gradually narrowing towards apex, middle of inner side with long brown setae (Fig. 3a, b, e ). Aedeagal complex with semen pump spherical (Fig. 3c, d ); ejaculatory apodeme elongated, widened at base (Fig. 3c, d ); aedeagus wide at base, distal 2/3 arched dorsally (Fig. 3a-d ). Parameres apically fused, basal parts flattened, in the shape nearly triangular plate (Fig. 3c, d ). Interbase globular laterally, producing into narrow, apically dilated outgrowth, beak-shaped in lateral aspect (Fig. 3c, d, f, g ).

Female. Body length 8.0 mm (excluding rostrum), wing length 6.5 mm, rostrum length 0.5 mm. Generally similar to male by body coloration. Ovipositor (Fig. 2e ) with tergite 10 brown. Cercus pale brownish yellow, long and slender, distal part curved dorsally, tip acute. Sternite 8 brown. Hypogynial valve pale brownish yellow, long and slender, tip reaching approximately middle of cercus.

Etymology.

The specific name refers to the type locality Mount Damingshan.

Distribution.

China (Guangxi).

Remarks.

Similar to many Palaearctic and Oriental species, H. (H.) damingshanus sp. nov. has also a simple gonocoxite and curved aedeagus, but can be distinguished from its congeners by the details of the outer gonostylus and the interbase (Fig. 4 ). In H. (H.) apophysalis Alexander, 1967, H. (H.) haemorrhoidalis , H. (H.) oxystylus (Alexander, 1967), H. (H.) taos Alexander, 1967 and H. (H.) tienmuanus , the size of the two spines at the tip of the outer gonostylus is significantly unequal (Fig. 4b, j, k, p, q ), while in H. (H.) catreus Alexander, 1967 and H. (H.) franckianus , the spines are almost equal in size, noticeably thin and pointed (Fig. 4e, g ). In the remaining species, including the new species, the two spines are relatively stout and the difference in their sizes is not very noticeable, but these species can be distinguished by the tip of the outgrowth of the interbase, which is elongated and with acute apex in H. (H.) arunachalus Alexander, 1975, H. (H.) pluto and H. (H.) tanyrhinus Alexander, 1964 (Fig. 4c, m, o ), short and obtuse in H. (H.) costosetosus Alexander, 1932 and H. (H.) perflavens Alexander, 1964 (Fig. 4f, l ), and rounded in H. (H.) anamalaiensis Alexander, 1967, H. (H.) attenuatus , H. (H.) fuscoangustus Alexander, 1967, H. (H.) garcianus Alexander, 1972, H. (H.) serenus Alexander, 1967 and H. (H.) verticillatus Alexander, 1967 (Fig. 4a, d, h, i, n, r ).

Only H. (H.) attenuatus and the new species have similar outgrowth of interbase with tip flattened (Figs 3f, g , 4d ), but the new species have tip nearly beak-shaped in lateral aspect while H. (H.) attenuatus has tip rounded. Helius (H.) damingshanus sp. nov. can be also distinguished by the pale brown prescutum and presutural scutum having a narrow median darker line (Fig. 2c ), the brownish yellow abdomen with darker terminal segments (Fig. 2a ), and the inner spine of the outer gonostylus being flat apically (Fig. 3e ). In H. (H.) attenuatus , the prescutum and presutural scutum is uniformly brownish black, the abdomen is uniformly black ( Alexander 1929a), and the inner spine of the outer gonostylus is acute apically (Fig. 4d ). In addition, in H. (H.) attenuatus , the body color is generally darker ( Alexander 1929a), and the outgrowth of the interbase is more expanded (Fig. 4d ).

Figures

Figure 2. Helius (Helius) damingshanus sp. nov. a habitus of male, lateral view b male head, lateral view c male thorax, dorsal view d male wing e female ovipositor, lateral view. Scale bars: 2.0 mm (a); 0.5 mm (b, c); 1.0 mm (d); 0.4 mm (e).

Figure 3. Helius (Helius) damingshanus sp. nov. a male hypopygium, dorsal view b male hypopygium, ventral view c aedeagal complex, dorsal view d aedeagal complex, ventral view e gonostyli, dorsal view f interbase, dorsal view g interbase, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (a, b); 0.1 mm (c, d); 0.05 mm (e, f, g).

Figure 4. Tips of outer gonostyli (upper) and interbases (lower) of some Palaearctic and Oriental Helius (Helius) species a H. (H.) anamalaiensis Alexander, 1967 b H. (H.) apophysalis Alexander, 1967 c H. (H.) arunachalus Alexander, 1975 d H. (H.) attenuatus (Alexander, 1929) e H. (H.) catreus Alexander, 1967 f H. (H.) costosetosus Alexander, 1932 g H. (H.) franckianus (Alexander, 1940) h H. (H.) fuscoangustus Alexander, 1967 i H. (H.) garcianus Alexander, 1972 j H. (H.) haemorrhoidalis (Alexander, 1937) k H. (H.) oxystylus (Alexander, 1967) l H. (H.) perflavens Alexander, 1964 m H. (H.) pluto (Alexander, 1932) n H. (H.) serenus Alexander, 1967 o H. (H.) tanyrhinus Alexander, 1964 p H. (H.) taos Alexander, 1967 q H. (H.) tienmuanus (Alexander, 1940) r H. (H.) verticillatus Alexander, 1967. After Alexander 1929 a (d), 1932 a (f), 1932 b (m), 1937 (j), 1940 a (g), 1940 b (q), 1964 (l, o), 1967 (a, b, e, h, k, n, p, r), 1972 (i), 1975 (c).